NATIONAL HEAD START ASSOCIATION STATEMENT ON
NEW STUDY
DETAILING MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS OF STATE PRE-K PROGRAMS
NIEER Report Is Powerful Indictment
of Proposals to "Dismantle" Head Start and
Turn It Over to States
WASHINGTON,
D.C.///February 19, 2004///National Head Start Association
(NHSA) President and CEO Sarah Greene issued the following
statement
today:
"The independent and unbiased report from the National
Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) released today
on state pre-K program completely vindicates those who have
argued that the vast majority of states are unprepared to
take on the job of running Head Start or replacement Head
Start programs under the block grant program envisioned by
House Republicans and President Bush.
As the new report notes: '... state preschool programs
are failing the nation's children. Few set high standards
and fewer still provide adequate funding. Even the disadvantaged
children targeted by most state preschool initiatives are
not assured of access to high-quality programs. Most children
and their family receive even less help. Children's learning
and development suffers as a result.'
Those would dismantle Head Start need to take the findings
of this report to heart, particularly the following major
conclusions:
- State pre-school program quality standards are lacking.
No state pre-K program met all of the report's 10 quality
standards. The report states: 'All states needed to improve
their quality standards. State quality standards varied
widely. Most states do not meet a majority of our research-based
benchmarks for minimum state standards.
- Only three states -- Oklahoma, Georgia and New Jersey's
'Abbott District' program -- were found to have even generally
adequate pre-school programs. This finding is very much
in line with the April 16, 2003 National Head Start Association
white paper, 'Dismantling Head Start,' which cited similar
research by professors Carol Ripple and Walter Gilliam
in pointing out: 'Only three states -- Delaware, Oregon and
Washington -- were found to provide the same set of eight
comprehensive services required of Hard Start programs,
primarily because they adopted a variation of performance
standards.' The new report from NIEER states: 'Overall,
we find that quality standards varied tremendously from
state to state. Unlike Head Start, a federal program that
sets consistent standards for classrooms across the U.S.,
state-financed preschool programs differed widely in terms
of personnel requirements, maximum allowable class size,
the services provided to children and families, and program
standards.
- State support for early childhood education is extremely
thin. According to the report, 10 states account for 83
percent of ALL spending on such programs. Only two states
-- Oklahoma and Georgia -- even seek to provide universal
access to preschool. Only two states support pre-K with
spending per child at the same level as Head Start. The
report states: 'On average, the federal Head Start programs
received nearly $3,500 more per child than states provided
to their preschool programs.
NHSA also agrees with the findings of the NIEER report that
teacher salaries in Head Start classrooms are too low and
that more funds are needed to get more degreed teachers into
the Head Start program.
On November 25, 2004, NHSA warned that pending U.S. House
and Senate bills do nothing to alleviate the 'Head Start
pay scandal' of low teacher salaries under which the average
Head Start teacher was paid only $21,000 in the 2000-2001
program year, compared to public school teachers earning
about twice that at $43,000. Even worse, both bills create
an 'unfunded B.A. mandate' by requiring higher degrees but
then failing to provide funding for scholarships and more
competitive salaries for teachers. Under the Senate bill,
Head Start programs actually would be threatened with defunding
if Head Start teachers fail to get the higher degrees.
We are all for higher Head Start teacher pay and educational
achievement. However, we would be remiss if we failed to
point out that Congress needs to make these things happen."
ABOUT NHSA
The National Head Start Association is a private not-for-profit
membership organization dedicated exclusively to meeting
the needs of Head Start children and their families. It
represents more than 900,000 children, 190,000 staff and
2,500 Head
Start programs in the United States. The Association provides
support for the entire Head Start community by advocating
for policies that strengthen services to Head Start children
and their families; by providing extensive training and
professional development to Head Start staff; and by developing
and disseminating
research, information and resources that enrich Head Start
program delivery.
CONTACT: Ailis Aaron, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com
|
